


Start The Loop

by PoisonEvie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, Dark Harry Potter, Dark Hermione Granger, F/M, Twin Flame Bond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:34:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29043927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonEvie/pseuds/PoisonEvie
Summary: Evelyn was aware people tended to shit themselves when they died.So, imagine her surprise when she not only woke up, but had not shat her pants. It was mind-boggling. Three minutes ago, she was at wand-point, fucking sure she´d be dead by the end of the day, and now she was looking around a beautiful castle that seemed too much like Hogwarts. Of course, it couldn't be, since War had broken Hogwarts, it had stained its floors and shattered its walls and Evelyn knew the amount of bodies piled in the Great Hall.But as Evelyn looked around, she realized she was no longer in the death-filled Hogwarts.She was in 1973.—Evelyn Meadowes has a mission. She has been given a Time-turner and is expected to fix the future by starting a loop. But when she manages to safely travel back to 1973, will she be succesful? Or will she make everything worse?
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)





	1. 1973: Bones and Sand

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Debt of Time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10672917) by [ShayaLonnie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShayaLonnie/pseuds/ShayaLonnie). 



> Hey! This is my first work on here, so deal with me, please. Hope you enjoy!

**July 12th, 1973**

Evelyn was aware people tended to shit themselves when they died. 

So, imagine her surprise when she not only woke up, but had not shat her pants. It was mind-boggling. Three minutes ago, she was at wand-point, fucking sure she´d be dead by the end of the day, and now she was looking around a beautiful castle that seemed too much like Hogwarts. Of course, it couldn't be, since War had broken Hogwarts, it had stained its floors and shattered its walls and Evelyn knew the number of bodies piled in the Great Hall. She´d seen Neville´s lifeless body sprawled across the Courtyard. The grin on Bellatrix after casting the Killing Curse on him.

Evelyn felt weak. Of course, she thought. I always feel weak. 

Her throat felt raw, and her left arm sensitive. She lifted it and gasped when nothing was there. _The potion_ , she thought. _The fucking Potion worked!_

She looked around in a daze, and with each passing moment she convinced herself she was, after all, dead. Because it couldn't be, it was just impossible to be beside the Black Lake, and to be staring directly at the grey sky, no War, no screams, no sorrow, and no lingering feel of Dark Magic. Hogwarts looked… Like the War never happened. Like destruction and death never took over its walls, like the blood of her fellow students never stained the floors. Like no Muggle-born was ever imprisoned in the dungeons..

Evelyn checked herself out. Maybe she was in white robes or some shit. She had to be in her own personal heaven. Or hell, she had no idea which. But no. She was in the same clothes she was wearing before her supposed death. 

Her jeans had been ripped in the knees from tripping in the forest. Her nails had mud under them. Her shoes were torn and dirty. Her hands and feet felt numb and cold. The mid-July air made her quiver. She remembered then, as she noticed the size of her tits: she had drunk a De-ageing potion before her travel. She was now officially a thirteen-year-old. And her tits had shrunk. _Fuck._

Evelyn starts to feel dizzy. When is she? did it work? She squints, and when her vision goes blurry and she hears someone calling for her, Evelyn turns her head fast. Too fast, because she feels increasingly dizzy and like the world is being swallowed by darkness, and all she can see is the mass of black hair running towards her. 

The boy, as she now sees, settles beside her, and asks something but Evelyn doesn't understand. Her knees wobble and fail her, and the boy makes sure she doesn't get hurt by grabbing her forearms and slowly putting her on the grass. Evelyn tries to wretch his hands from her, scared Harry finally found her. He looks so much like him. She starts to panic. Her chest heaves, and bile rises through her throat. She looks around, searching for a place where she can... She vomits on the side. 

The boy shrinks his nose in slight disgust and casts a _Scorgioufy_ on her before picking her up, left hand under her knees, and his right hand squeezing her back, and taking off for the Castle.

 _No. No, you don't understand_. She tries to move out of his arms, but his hold is hard, and her fight is weak. She feels a pain in her chest, and she heaves, feeling like she can't breathe. _No, no, please. I can't go there; I was just there. I can't go back._

She wants to speak but her chest is filled with grief and pain and tears stream down her face as she hides her face in the crook of the boy's neck, because now she remembers, now she knows, and she is certain that she will, indeed shit her pants when she realizes that the boy carrying her isn't Harry Potter,

_It's James._

—— 

James Potter runs into the infirmary with a sick-looking girl in his arms. Her black hair is messy, falling over his arm, her lips dry and chapped, and she looks like she's been starved. The girl is unconscious, and the young teenager lays her body on the bed carefully.

Remus Lupin is in his own bed, trying not to move too much when he sees him come in. The last full moon was only a day ago, and the pain on his limbs is still lingering. He sees his friend lightly and carefully place the witch in one of the beds and call Madam Pomfrey. The Medi-witch comes from behind a curtain, clutching a trolley filled with potions. 

The Infirmary is empty. It was two months before going back to school, and both James and Remus stayed behind. James because he wanted to be there for Remus, and Remus because, well, he didn't want to go back to what he was supposed to call home. Matron had asked the school if he could stay this year for the full moon and they had eagerly agreed after Madam Pomfrey begged Dumbledore. They would stay only for a maximum of ten days, to make sure Remus was safe for travel. Then he´d go back to St. Edmund´s.

The dim light coming from the windows did not help with searching for bite marks on the girl´s small body from his bed. Remus was scared maybe he'd bitten her last night and they'd just found her, or somebody else had done so. Someone like him. 

Remus sat up on the bed as James paced around the room nervously. He had cast a Muffliato around the witch and was now sitting down on a chair beside her, elbows placed on his knees, hands clutching his hair as he looked down at the floor. Remus wondered what the floor held that he didn't.

Madam Pomfrey looked worried as she cast several charms around the girl. Remus grimaced as red light surrounded most of them, knowing that only in his worst moons had he had such dark signs come up in the Diagnosis Charms Madam Pomfrey was now gaping at. Several broken bones, it seemed, along with dehydration, starvation, and several other things Remus couldn’t differ since he wasn't a medic. 

James was now pacing back and forth in front of the young witch, taking a hand through his hair every two minutes in a sign of anxiety. The Mediwitch was hovering over the girl muttering things to herself and writing down with a self-inking quill on a notebook. She put over five Potions in a small metal table that she placed beside the bed and cast several Healing Charms on the witch after transfiguring her clothes into robes. 

After casting additional Warming Charms and Safety Charms, Madam Pomfrey stood from the girl and approached James. The pair spoke in hushed voices, and Remus made his best not to eavesdrop-after all, his Lupine hearing permitted him to listen in on any conversation in a fifteen-feet radius. But, even with his efforts, Remus was able to hear a few words here and there; “Do you think that the Bones...?” “Yeah, yes, but we should ask Dumbledore.”

James stood, grabbed his wand, and walked out of the infirmary with a serious stance.

—

_Evelyn found herself back in the Battle of Hogwarts. The fight had stopped. Ragged breath and muffled cries filled the Courtyard. Blood was smeared on her hands. She didn’t quite know if it was hers or somebody else´s. The smell of the corpses had numbed her to any other. Evelyn´s shoelaces were untied._

__

Voldemort strode with a chained Hagrid behind him, his army behind the four of them, Harry Potter walking beside him. Evelyn clutched her wand tighter, her knuckles gong white from the pressure. Confusion struck the standing students and wizards as Voldemort and Harry walked beside each other. Bellatrix Lestrange wore her usual ragged garments as she skipped happily around both, snickering at everyone as she stopped a few steps behind the two wizards, who walked to the middle of the Courtyard.

__

The Death Eaters strode behind them, and Evelyn felt a sour taste on her mouth. Her feet hurt. She scratched at her scar and leveled her breathing. 

__

Is he chained? Imperiosed? Has he been tied? It cannot be Harry, for sure. It must be someone else.

__

Harry Potter stepped in front of Voldemort, now, and spoke with a ragged and giddy voice “Harry Potter is dead!” He yelled, and Evelyn saw then, Harry´s eyes were now completely black, a wicked and evil grin plastered on his face as green light strode from his wand onto unexpecting wizards and witches. Friends.

__

Evelyn felt like the sound muffled around her, Killing Curses being shot left and right, aimed at the people she loved and knew Harry to love. 

__

Polyjuice Potion. Imperio. He has a plan. He must have a plan. But he´s killing everyone- it must be the Potion, then. Harry would never…

__

But Harry was no longer The Boy Who Lived, but the Boy Who Turned, and Evelyn knew it. 

__

Evelyn felt the fear rush into her whole body, felt the horror and guilt that struck the people around her, saw how Ginny screamed and tried to reach Harry but was instantly hit with the Killing Curse. 

__

Evelyn didn’t scream. 

__

Evelyn Meadowes felt numb as she saw Ginevra Weasley´s body fall to the ground, Ron falling on his knees beside her, clutching her head, her hair curtaining her face and open eyes in an expression of sorrow permanently plastered on her features. Her body completely limp as her brother sobbed over her, petting her hair, and closing his eyes in prayer to Circe or Merlin. Or anybody who would listen.

__

Ron asked for mercy. But none was given.

__

Evelyn knew she was done for. A half-blood witch, with a blood traitor father, blood-traitor friends, and Harry Potter's Slytherin friend, who was now a Dark Wizard. Harry was now asking the students to join him, saying his cause was true. Nobody moved an inch. He had stopped shooting Killing Curses. Silence fell as Harry waited for people to join him or die.

__

She gripped her wand, knowing if she had to die to stop this from happening, she would. She wished he was there, she didn’t know why he wasn’t, didn’t remember. Evelyn thought she would´ve liked to see him one last time before it, but she only hoped he would survive this, and get over her death. 

__

She was dead, might as well look death in the eye before leaving. But Harry had other plans. 

__

She meant it. She knew she did. She´d had her hopes what she thought wasn’t true, but there he was, a full on Death Eater. He was probably the one Potter Watch had talked about for the past years. The High Guard, Voldemort´s right hand. Harry Potter.

__

“Avada-” Evelyn´s scream was stopped with another,

__

_“Crucio!” a rippling pain sizzled through her veins, every muscle spasming and writhing in horror. She screamed for what felt like ages until the pain stopped, which was when she opened her eyes to see Harry Potter's wand in front of her, not Bellatrix´s, like she´d expected. Like last time she was in Hogwarts. A female giggled behind him, as he stooped low before her fallen body and cast a dark charm on his wand, pushing his knees on her thighs to keep her from moving as he snickered, marking her with a word as she continued to scream her vocal chords off…_

Evelyn woke up being shaken by a dark-haired boy with worry in his eyes. Her chest felt pained as she tried to breathe in, her lungs contracting. She felt trapped. Her hair stuck on her back from the sweat. _No. Stop. I need… Where's Ginny?_ Where is _he_? Evelyn looked around, half dazed, and her gaze fell upon James’s eyes. 

That was not how she´d gotten her now invisible scar. That was certainly not it. That memory… It had been a dream, not a memory. Because Evelyn knew damn well she´d gotten her scar years before that. 

James Potter sat in the infirmary bed she was apparently in and was saying something she wasn't quite listening to. Her chest felt heavy, and the dooming realization of safety made her stop trembling, as James cast a hair out of her face softly with his fingers, and he smiled at her, repeating the words he was sure she heard nothing of in her trembling daze. “You´re fine, you´re safe here, Evie. I´m here.”

_What the fuck? Since when is my name Evie? Why does James act like he knows me? What the fuck?_

Her throat felt raw and she could see a sandy-haired boy behind James, casting curious glances toward her. He had a book in his lap, and it looked like he´d been reading up until the moment she woke. 

Evelyn looked around. It was clearly the next day, and she felt the heavy feeling of the place where she was, but no lingering Darkness, no bad memories where she was standing. Nobody that she knew had died in this infirmary. She had been a Healer, back then. But she had never worked in Hogwarts’s infirmary. It had all happened before the wedding, before… Evelyn´s head throbbed. Before what? she knew she had been a Healer, she knew she had seen people die. But what had happened after?

After eating a bit of scrambled eggs and swallowing the several Potions —Which, in Evelyn´s opinion, tasted like shit— a younger Madam Pomfrey had left for her, James softly spoke when he noticed her headache.

“Here, Pain Relief Potion. I have Dreamless Sleep, for later.” He smiled, “I´m James, by the way.”

Evelyn hesitated. She knew she was no longer in 2001, but she still remembered Harry´s addiction to Dreamless Sleep before Bill and Fleur´s wedding, and how he would down three every night before going to sleep. She had to make new batches every week or he'd get angry, falling into a rabbit hole of depression and rage. Watching the dark bags under his eyes grow each month had been painful. Because Harry downed Dreamless sleep but couldn’t actually go to sleep.

Finally, she downed the Pain Relief Potion and grimaced at the taste. Not horrible or vomitive like the Bone-Healing Potion, but spicy like Pepper-up.

She wondered if James knew what had happened to her. She wondered why he was in Hogwarts.

She realized, then. Harry was the same age James was at the time of his death when he finally strode into Hogwarts and killed his friends. _Harry became what James and Lily would die to protect him from_. Ironic.

She was aware of her Time-travelling. She had planned it all very carefully, but now the details seemed blurry and dark in her mind. She knew she was there because of a mission; she knew the words written into the Time-turner she had been gifted by Sirius, ´Satus per loop´.

So, she had to start the loop, but what loop? Evelyn had no idea. Her thoughts were interrupted by James handing her a glass of water and speaking,

“The Bones are taking you in, Evie, they're good friends of ours, and we trust them to help you. Dumbledore said it was best for you not to be… er, involved with us. The Potters.”

“The Bones?” She widened her eyes. The Bones were known as a family of Blood-traitors, they were part of the Sacred Twenty-eight. Evelyn remembered clearly that most of them had died in 1981, before You-know-who´s fall. _Shit_.

“Yeah, the Bones. We´re just gonna say you attended Beauxbatons for a while before coming here.”

She lowered her eyes and nodded before James lowered the Muffliato and stepped away from her toward the sandy-haired boy she recognized as Remus. A tang of pain rippled through her chest at the sight of a young Remus, and she decided then, after she was done moping, she would protect him and make his life as happy as she ever could.

Evelyn saw James scoot a chair near Remus´s bed, she guessed the moon had been a few days ago, and James had explained Sirius and the rest of his friends had gone home but were going to Potter Manor later. 

— 

Evelyn felt her limbs ache as she stood up from her bed. James had gone to get some breakfast for her and who she guessed was a young Remus Lupin in the bed infront of her, and they were both left alone. 

She limped towards his bed, where he was reading a Muggle book she had never heard of and sat roughly on the chair beside him. She was sure he´d heard her. During his time as a professor, they´d both bonded over living in a Children´s home and he´d told her, after the event with the Shrieking Shack, that after full moons he tended to be jumpy and his senses grew finer. So, it was impossible for him not to have listened. 

The boy kept on reading like normal. Evie felt her anger rise and cleared her throat. He didn’t even flinch. 

“Hiya” She said, a bit of her accent coming through. She´d managed to mask it so well over the years in Hogwarts, she felt weird when it slipped so easily out of her lips.

“Sod off” He responded, and she gaped at him. The Remus she´d met had never said anything of the sort, and she now could see the effect St. Edmund´s had on him. It had the same effect on her. So, she retrieved back to her tough persona she used to hang with the boys in St. Ed´s when she was barely thirteen, closed her mouth and slumped on the chair. 

“You from St. Ed´s?” She asked, acting nonchalant and taking the mud from under her nails off. Remus finally let down his book with wide eyes that he quickly hid. “I said sod off, didn’t I?” And he lifted the book again. Evie gripped it and threw it over the room “Will you talk to me? A girl gets bored!”

Remus cried out, “What the fuck?!, that was m´book!” 

“Stop bloody cryin´ about your damn book and tell me your bloody name!”  
Remus crossed his arms. Evelyn sighed.

“I´m from St. Julia´s.” She admitted, and it was true. Before her days as a Hogwarts student, she lived in the all-girls House herself, getting into all sorts of trouble once she turned fourteen. She remembered her loss of virginity and shuddered. 

He widened his eyes and sat up, “What?” 

“I told you, if you tell me your name, I’ll tell you how.”

“Remus Lupin” 

“Never heard of ´ya”

“Well, I never heard of you” He responded, “Why´re you here? Never seen ya around”

“Jus´ got adopted, y´see, by the Bones apparently.” 

Just then, the doors were reopened, and a younger-looking Dumbledore followed by James entered the room, looking around and finding Evelyn. The man spoke, eyes twinkling at the small witch. “Oh, Miss Bones, I see you got here safely” at his words, Evelyn bawled her hands into fists with rage, and opposed to what she felt, smiled sweetly, not without a twinge of danger in her eye, and nodded. This didn't go without notice from both Remus and James, who, in their heads, placed her as a Slytherin.

“I trust Mr. Potter here has told you how things are going to go from now on. Your family is coming in a day or two.”

Dumbledore cast a Muffliato, then, after nodding to the witch and ignoring any response she had, and turned to the young Madam Pomfrey, who nodded seriously, and seemed to explain the extent of Evelyn´s wounds. Silence fell between the three teenagers, and Evelyn was dragged to bed by James as Remus Accio´ed his book and glared at her.

Evelyn spent the rest of the day trying to piece the bits of information she had on the Bones. She remembered Amanda Bones, who was in Harry´s hearing in the Ministry in their fifth year, and it was known they were a family of four brothers before several of them died. She had no idea which she'd been stuck with. Double shit.

— 

**July 22, 1973**

Ten days had passed. Ten days in which the Bones were not permitted to visit Evie, ten days in which James, and by extension, Remus, had kept guard on the foot of her bed each night, taking turns. 

Ten days in which both the boys had had to cast Silencing Charms on the girl before she went to sleep, since she refused to drink Dreamless Sleep. Ten days in which James and Remus sat by her bed and told her stories about things they´d both done while in Hogwarts. The three of them became good friends, and Remus found that he could trust her, when Evie —Apparently, that was her new name— made James —Who she called Jay-Jay in an adoring way— buy lots of Chocolate Frogs for Remus, which he delightfully accepted not without red cheeks and a sheepish grin plastered on his face. 

James had taken the stance of a big brother for Evie and they both acted like siblings, often working in unison almost scarily. 

— 

Remus woke up to the sound of screams. He had heard screams before, and he had had his throat raw because of them himself. But never, in his thirteen years of life, had Remus Lupin heard such screams. He stood from his chair, not even bothering to wince when pain rippled through his muscles for the hours of guarding in the chair, and in the dark, saw a small figure writhing beneath what smelled like James. 

He grabbed his wand and cast a quick Silencing Charm —which both James and he seemed to have forgotten to cast— on the witch, earning a thanking glare from James, who was fighting to get her back on the bed.

Madam Pomfrey walked into the Infirmary at a quick step, followed by a Medi Witch with a St. Mungo's logo on her robes. She had a tight knot of hair on the bottom of her head, and dark brown hair, along with a grave face and a small Medical Kit. Remus furrowed his brows and stepped in front of them, knowing they might take Evie from James. He was protecting James, and to do that, he now had to protect Evie.

“Young man, please move out of the way” spoke the Mediwitch, throwing a quick glance to Madam Pomfrey, who had seemingly no intention of helping her in the matter. James, having finally calmed Evie, stepped beside Remus, and cast a glance at him, silently pleading with him to go back to bed, and saying he´d deal with this himself. Remus nodded, but kept a guarding eye on both the Mediwitch and his friend, and Evie, who seemed to be slowly waking up.

Remus quickly walked and sat softly on her bed. “Hey... Hey, everythin's alright love” he spoke, and patted her shoulder. How do you stop a girl from crying?

Suddenly, the doors were opened once again and a brown haired, grey-eyed woman strode into the Infirmary, an incredibly angry look on her face, with two boys on her heel, equally as enraged but controlled. 

The woman had her wand on her hand, a small bag on her other being tightly clutched, and the two boys behind her towered over her. One of them had curly and unruly hair that tripled over his eyes, and the other had longer hair he scooped out of his face with one hand. Both the boys had light brown hair and dark blue eyes, nothing like their mother´s.

As they walked decidedly to a cautious and scared Evie, who had snatched Remus's wand from his pocket at the sound of intrusion and was now standing on guard with James and Remus behind her, the two Marauders were equally shocked at her response. It was like she was always on guard, always prepared to fight. 

Ms. Bone´s eyes prickled with tears as she watched a small, afraid girl guard the two people who had protected her over the past two weeks. She didn't waver her step, instead hugged Evelyn Meadowes tight,

And in that moment, Evelyn knew she was no longer a Meadowes, but a Bones.

Evie Bones.


	2. 1973: Wardrobe and Paint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I might edit the chapters as I go, so bear with me.

“Don't ask if I'm happy, you know that I'm not  
But, at best, I can say I'm not sad  
'Cause hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have  
Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have

I had fifteen-year dances  
Church basement romances, yeah, I've cried  
Spilling my guts with the Bowery Bums  
Is the only love I've ever known"

(hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but I have it // Lana Del Rey)

July 23, 1973

Evie knew the De-Aging Potion was supposed to turn her body into her thirteen-year-old self, but she realized late, after spending nearly a week to brew the perfect potion in the cranked tent and chugging it that the scars would not leave forever, and the word traitor would eventually come back to her forearm. Of course, she still had the three gashes from Padfoot´s claws right under her shoulder, but no more than that. 

Ms. Bones —Jane— had insisted they come back to the Bones Manor after yelling at Dumbledore for not letting her in, and presenting herself after hugging Evie, along with Fred and Richard, her two sons, who were two years older than Evie and starting their sixth year. 

When she had realized the Bones lived in a Manor her gut had twisted. She´d never been fond of rich people, since they tended to look down on the girl with messy black hair, patchy robes, hand-me-down shoes, and a defensive look on her face along with some dirt under her chin Matron did everything to get rid of.

She had expected a Manor full of grim allegories to the human anatomy. Skulls as table pieces, skeleton hands as handles on the doors. Maybe even the skeletons of earlier Heirs.

James and Remus had told her to look for both before entering the train, so she'd sit with them, and Evelyn had agreed.

As she stepped into the chimney, Floo Powder in hand and yelled ´Bones Manor´, Evie felt her gut twist in slight fear.

But there she was, realizing she'd been completely in the wrong, standing in the middle of the humongous Manor that had blue ceilings filled with stars and constellations. Evelyn had never seen something so beautiful in her life. She was wearing some dark blue robes that were most certainly not hand-me-downs Jane had given her, and her hair was up in a ponytail Madam Pomfrey had quickly made. 

The Manor itself was beautiful, with pastel blue walls, gold decorations, and not one bone. Evelyn wondered if she would be expected to call it home. If she even could call something home anymore. She felt like, after all the darkness she'd seen, she didn't deserve light.

Evelyn turned on her heel, trying to memorize every detail she found. She didn’t know when she´d go back in time since she didn’t have the Time-turner on her, and she was surely going to be returned and thrown into War again. Maybe, if she stayed, they´d put her into St. Julia´s all over again now that she´d told Remus where she was from. She hated the idea, and she decided she would not think about it.

Three couches stood before her, in a Victorian kind of fashion. Evelyn didn’t sit. Instead, she looked around. The tapestry was filled with flowers and details in dark blue. There were several paintings of witches and wizards —All with brown, curly hair and blue eyes— who were staring at her curiously and whispering to themselves. Only one woman sat back and stared at her coldly. Under her painting, a name was written: Seraphina Bones-Ravenclaw. Evie furrowed her brows, approaching the painting.

A door was opened, startling Evie, and making her raise her hand to her wand pocket, only to find it empty. Evie cast a quick glance back at the painting, who was now raising a brow at her hands, which were twitching every three seconds. She balled her hands into fists and looked back to the front of the room. As the doors were closed behind her, an old lady with a cane approached Evelyn. She had a stern look, and she was staring at the girl like she expected her to disappoint her.

“So, you are the girl we were told was coming last year, I see.” The lady spoke.

“Yes, Madam Bones, I am. My name is Evelyn M-” She said, trying to hide her accent and use polite words like she´d learned adults liked to hear.

“No need for that, my girl. I've known who you are, or rather who you will be, for a while now.” She interrupted the girl, and Evelyn widened her eyes. So, they knew? “Just remember: you are one of us now. You are a Bones, and the Bones are strong, stubborn, noble, and intelligent. Do you believe you are worthy of our House?” The lady responded, raising one brow, strikingly similarly to the painting, and clutching her cane. She was wearing a long black and blue dress that looked straight out of the 20´s fashion. 

“Yes, I s´pose, I know your-our words: By Fire and Wit, and since my life has been attempted on quite a few times I think I am deserving.” Evelyn spoke, accidentally letting her use of words slip and the old lady returned her wicked smile.  
What was happening? She´d managed to get a handle of her accent when she was merely fourteen… Oh, shit, she thought, It’s the bloody Potion!

“Spoken like a true Bones. My name, as I'm sure you must know, is Elizabeth, and my husband Philippe will be coming shortly. I believe you've met the boys, then.” Evie, in fact, did not know the lady´s name prior to her saying it, but nodded, nonetheless.

Evelyn shuddered. The boys were an earlier version of Fred and George, and when they´d met her they had distracted her with their jokes and snarky comments. Yes, she most certainly had met them.

She nodded again.

“Perfect. Now, let me call a House-elf and take you to your room to get dressed to formally meet the rest of the family on dinner” spoke Elizabeth, and Evelyn widened her eyes. Dinner?

“Topsy!” she yelled, coking her head to the side where a small elf appeared with a soft ´pop´, wide eyes and a cautious look on her face. Did they think she deserved a house-elf?

“Is this the Young Miss, Mistress Elizabeth?” The lady only nodded once, never taking her delighted eyes off from the girl “Oh! How delightful, Topsy makes sure Miss is well-rested and dressed for dinner, yes, she will.” spoke the small elf, and Elizabeth nodded to Evelyn when she cast a questioning glance at her when the elf offered a small hand to her. She clutched it and the feeling of Apparition had her feeling dizzy as she stood in her bedroom. After all, she did have her bones, several cuts and bruises healed. 

She looked around and gasped. Evelyn´s room was beautiful. Evelyn had a room of her own. Holy shit. She´d always shared a room with someone. No matter if it was in Hogwarts, with Lavender, Ginny, and Hermione, or in St. Julia´s, with the cruel girls she´d known for years. Evelyn looked around. It was… Too much. The priciest thing she´d owned was well, the Time-Turner. But this…

The walls were white, and there were details in golden and black around the whole room. She had a huge four-poster with matching blue curtains and covers. There was a rug under it, a dark blue colour like the one her bed held. The wood in the four-poster was dark, probably made of Ash wood, she thought. When she was merely twelve, she´d found a book on Wand Woods in the library and had nicked it from Hogwarts only to keep from boredom all summer and had read it so many times she´d memorized it.

There was a huge mirror with a dark blue and gold frame. The blue part looked like the log of a tree, and the details in gold were small branches and leaves that invaded the mirror´s space lightly. The mirror itself was full-body, and Evie stared at herself for a few seconds. She wondered if she looked as out of place as she felt. She stared at her black hair and green eyes, the wavy hair. The soft curtain bangs, the way the robes stuck to her small curves. She had her thirteen-year-old body all over again. 

Topsy tugged on her robes and guided her by the hand to a bathroom connected to her room while muttering softly about how she had to hurry.

The bathroom looked straight out of a colour palette, for everything was different tones of blue. The tub —Evelyn now had a tub, a four-poster bed all for herself and a huge room— was electric blue, the tiles in the floor were pastel, even the sink was a pale dark blue. she thought she'd never seen so much of it. So much for House pride, the Bones had seemingly the most of that. 

Evelyn then remembered the Bones were known for being mostly part of Ravenclaw House in Hogwarts, excepting Edward Bones, who was a Hufflepuff, and Elizabeth Bones —His mother— who was a Slytherin. Evelyn knew she herself was most definitely a Slytherin, especially after the War.

She´d had to think of herself and the people she loved, and she had learned that sometimes, stepping on other people's toes to reach her goal was the only way of surviving in a War. Still, she decided she would make the Sorting Hat place her in Gryffindor, not wanting to be thrown into the Snake Pit, and marked as Death Eater even when she was not one or would ever be one.

Topsy cast water into the tub with a snap or her fingers and made her strip of her clothes. “Miss must bathe and sleep, Topsy will bring the Potions Mistress gave Topsy for young Miss. Topsy must give them to young Miss. Miss! Hurry, hurry! Miss will get in the tub, yes she will.”

Evelyn wanted to differ, but the moment she stepped into the bath she sighed. She had never had a tub this big, and the most she´d ever enjoyed was a five-minute shower before Ginny or Emma —a girl from St. Julia´s— were knocking on her door asking her to hurry up.

Soon, she relaxed as Topsy wobbled around the room, popping out of it every few seconds to gather several things Evelyn was paying no attention to. 

“Missus arm is injured! Oh, what happened to Missus' arm? Oh, terrible indeed, terrible!” whined Topsy, covering her eyes after seeing the three slashes on her arm, and Evie tried to calm her, “No, Topsy, look! It's healed, see?” She showed her stretching and touching the scar, showing she was in no pain, “I’m fine, Topsy, please don't be upset.”

After that, Topsy washed her hair after they argued over who would do so, and Evelyn relenting. After a few minutes of relaxation, Evelyn started to feel anxious and nervous and decided to get out. Topsy handed her a towel and cast a Drying Charm on her, leading her out the bathroom and into the bedroom. The room was mostly blue with golden details, and the mattress was extremely comfortable. She threw herself on it and decided clouds were nothing compared to that feeling. Topsy tucked her into bed and said she'd wake her up one hour before dinner was ready. Evelyn thanked the heavy weight the blankets gave her, since they seemed to ease her anxiety, and let herself fall into a deep sleep.

— 

Evelyn had forgotten to take the Dreamless Sleep Potion. After her nightmares got worse, she had decided to start taking them. But as she was awoken by her own screams, she quickly realized she´d very much not taken it. She also realized she'd forgotten to cast a Silencio or a Locking Charm when she heard footsteps coming from outside her room. Probably because of her lack of a wand.

“Topsy!” she screamed, her voice trembling. Topsy appeared out of thin air with a soft ´pop´, and stood beside the witch with glassy eyes “Topsy is sorry, Topsy forgot to give Miss her Potion for the bad dreams and now she-” 

“Topsy, s´okay, I need you to do something for me” Evelyn spoke, not caring about the way her accent slipped and taking Topsy´s hands in hers as the elf nodded happily, tears flowing out of her eyes “Cast a Locking Charm on the door, will ´ya?” she said and Topsy widened her eyes as the footsteps grew louder. Evie shrieked, her vocal cords complaining “Now!”, and the elf snapped her fingers.

Just as someone tried to unlock her door, Topsy disappeared with a soft pop, and Evie spoke “Everythin's fine, I'm just gettin´ ready for dinner” , and the steps receded after a few voices softly argued in the hallway. They sounded like Fred and Rick. Shit.

There was a dress on the foot of her bed, and Evie´s hands shook. It was beautiful, and it was certainly worth more than her vault in ten times ten. Evelyn had to call Topsy again to help with her dress since her hands shook too much to put it on, —and since Evelyn had no idea how to put one on, since Ginny had been the one to help her get into the one she´d used at the Yule Ball— and Topsy had babbled while she told her that “Mister and Mistress are nervous, and the boys look happy, but like something worries the boys. Mister paces in circles when he's nervous, yes, he does, and Mistress stares at him. they are good, yes, indeed, very good” as she helped her with her hair.

Evelyn wondered if they always dressed as formally when having dinner. She wasn´t sure she´d be able to keep up with that sort of lifestyle. She had accepted the gifts so far, but she didn’t think she wanted more. She felt like she´d owe them all too much and she had no way to pay them any of it back.

Evie was nervous herself; she'd never even met her mother, who´d died when she was little, and her father had never been there from the start. She also wondered whether Jane had taught Topsy the big words she seemed to use, or if the small elf knew them from before.

The dress was beautiful. It had bell-like sleeves that bunched up at the wrists, and a black bodice with flowy silk coming after the waist. It was aquamarine blue and had golden stars plastered all over it. Topsy briefly mentioned Edgar having bought it, and Jane having helped him, and she couldn't help but feel something bubble up in her chest— emotion. Evelyn had no idea which emotion, but emotion, nonetheless.

Topsy had put half her hair up into two braids that connected on the back of her head and let the rest of her hair flow down to just under her breasts. Evie thought she had to cut her hair for school. That led her to realizing she´d be starting her fourth year in Hogwarts —again— in under two months. The thought made her hands shake. What if she broke down? There were too many memories. The good ones she'd once had and clung on were now stained —Literally— by blood, war, and death. 

Evie shook her head and returned her mind to the present. She´d deal with that when the time came. Now, she was determined to enjoy dinner, meet her family, and relax. Evie stared at herself in the mirror and allowed herself to feel pretty and smile at her reflection for a few seconds before calling Topsy and telling her she was ready. The small elf had given her some privacy after explaining she had to clean the bathroom for ´After Missus has dinner´. 

Topsy walked over to her as she turned from the beautiful blue and gold mirror. She cast a quick glance towards herself in it, looked back at Topsy and nodded before she clutched Evie´s hand and Apparated both to just outside the room she expected to be the place where they had dinner. 

Topsy knocked four times, then two, paused, and knocked once more. From the other side, Evelyn heard a voice say, “Come in”. Of course. It was a house full of Ravenclaws. Of course, they´d use Morse Code. And of course, the House-elf would know it, too. Not that she was complaining, Topsy had talked her ear off about how she was a free elf being paid, and that she stayed because she wished to. That she was provided for and given decent bedrooms, that Jane had taught her how to read and write, and the boys had taught her how to play pranks on her fellow coworkers (Bopsy, Mopsy, and several others Evie couldn't quite remember). Topsy turned to her and explained the one to teach her Morse Code had been Fred, who had learned the language for fun in the summer before his second year of school, and the whole family now used it constantly.

She wondered what it would´ve been like to be able to just learn Morse Code for fun over the summer instead of trying to stop fifty girls from bullying and beating you, but she soposed it would´ve been too boring. Hopefully.

Evelyn had been twirling her hands in nervousness, since she couldn't bite her nails because every time, she´d approach her hand to her mouth and Topsy would slap it off while saying “Missus must not ruin her nails, no she must not!”, but as she stared at the seven people standing up and beaming at her, she realized they were just as nervous as her. 

Jane Bones was the first to approach her. She was wearing a pastel blue dress that covered her arms and chest. It flew down to her ankles, showing a pair of refined black shoes. She carefully took Evelyn´s hand in her own and spoke with a soft voice before hugging her, “Welcome home, Evie.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment your opinions or thoughts on what will happen next


End file.
